Digital transformation, or DX, translates directly as ‘digital transformation’.
Although attention tends to focus only on the ‘digital’ part, the most important part is the ‘transformation’ using digital technology.
It is not only private companies that face this problem, but also local and regional administrations. What exactly is ‘municipal DX’ and what are local authorities doing about it, which is harder to visualise than in the private sector?
The promotion of digital transformation (DX) is a topic generally heard in the private sector. However, the same is also true for public administration and local governments, which are also struggling with this topic. Local governments in particular face a number of problems and challenges that are unique to them.
This promotion of DX by local governments is also known as ‘municipal DX’. What does this municipal DX mean in the first place?
Specifically, it is the use of digital technology and data to transform the administrative services of various public institutions and facilities, including local authorities, with the aim of contributing to local communities.
Indeed, by appropriately and efficiently collecting, managing, analysing and utilising data from each region, it is possible to provide more meaningful and comfortable administrative services to local residents. If the collected data is used as big data and AI is used for appropriate operations, it is certain that the convenience of residents will increase.
The successful use of digital technology and AI can also improve operational efficiency, improve services and allocate human resources to new services that have never existed before.
In 2020, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) announced the ‘Municipal DX Promotion Plan’ at the time of the Cabinet decision on the ‘Digital Government Action Plan’, and in 2021 the Digital Agency will take the lead in establishing a unified core business system called the ‘Gov-Cloud’ (Government Cloud).
If this goes ahead, local authorities across the country will be able to do multiple cloud services such as SaaS, IaaS and PaaS. Many operations can now be carried out on the web, reducing costs and increasing the speed of operations.
Above all, it is expected to make it easier for the national government and local authorities to collaborate with each other on data. There is a growing momentum to promote DX throughout the country.
The promotion of DX by local governments is a long-standing challenge, given the impending ‘wave of the times’ and ‘various social issues’.
Against this backdrop, the promotion of DX by local authorities in particular is being pressed by practical necessity.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' “Changes in the number of staff in local governments”, the number of staff in local governments has been reduced by more than 400,000 over the past 20 years. The situation is such that there is a permanent shortage of staff, and improving the efficiency of administrative service operations has become an urgent issue.
This is also against the backdrop of the lack of cross-regional and inter-organisational data utilisation and collaboration that was highlighted in the response to the new coronavirus outbreak after 2020.
When the Fumio Kishida Government came to power in 2021, Prime Minister Kishida announced his policy statement that he would ‘promote digital implementation from the regions, create a new wave of change and close the gap between regions and cities’.
The Digital Agency, which was established before Kishida's inauguration, has responded to this by focusing on promoting the ‘three pillars’ of ‘realising the Digital Rural City State Concept through the development of digital infrastructure in rural areas’, ‘promoting data strategies’ and ‘strongly promoting the digitalisation of public administration’.
